Target Corp. CEO Gregg Steinhafel, in his first interview since his company acknowledged a massive data breach that exposed the personal data of as many as 110 million customers, said he got the news of the attack at home over coffee. He's going to need a lot more.

"We're not going to sleep until we get it right" and win back shoppers disillusioned by the breach, Steinhafel told CNBC's Becky Quick in a 30-minute interview that aired early Monday morning. (You can scroll down to see the whole thing.)

Steinhafel, who described himself as "still shaken" over the incident, knows that customers are upset. The data included names, credit- and debit-card numbers and encrypted PIN numbers for 40 million people. It also included a second pool, as large as 70 million, that consisted of contact information (there may be some overlap between the two groups.) "No one screens my email," he said, which he said has ranged from expressions of support to angry criticism.

Steinhafel also defended the retailer's decision to wait four days before acknowledging the attack, which ranged between Black Friday and Dec. 15. The company didn't confirm the breach until Dec. 19, after technology blogger Brian Krebs broke the news. The first priority was to remove malware installed by the thieves, then prepare its call center personnel for the influx of questions that were sure to come. (Even with those preparations, the system was often jammed.)

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